70° North / Sidetracked Magazine

”I’m standing on the bow of Barba, a 37ft expedition yacht owned and captained by Norwegian sailor, adventurer, and marine biologist Andreas B. Heide, and on the horizon, life abounds in the wilderness. Seabirds float effortlessly on the north-easterly breeze; herring cavort in their millions beneath the surface; and down in the murky depths, pods of orcas search the rich waters for twi - light feasts. While this world may appear barren, life courses through it with an unbounded ferocity. For me, Norway has always been a place of majesty and intrigue. Over the years, it has pulled me back time and time again. But while I have explored its mountains and fjords, its forests and coast, the waters of the North have always eluded me. Between November and January each year, migrating herring filter into Norway’s Arctic fjords to seek shelter from brutal winter storms. And while they may be safe from turbulent waters, they are not alone. Humpback whales, sperm whales, and orcas pursue them, seeking to gorge during the otherwise lean winter months. So it was that Heide contacted me and suggested that we, during this short feeding window, got up close and personal with the planet’s largest mammals. Heide is an expert in free-diving with orcas and has taken Barba on numerous expeditions in the Arctic regions.”

WORDS Hugh Francis Anderson
Excerpt from Sidetracked Magazine

Photographs taken aboard SY Barba with a team without whom this project would not have been possible.